Oil seal for gear housings



R. A. WHITTINGHAM OiL SEAL FOR GEAR HOUSINGS Jan. 15, 1929.

Original Filed March 2- 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Jan. 15, 1929.

original Filed March 2. 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet '2 Patented Jan. 15, 1929.

New srArEs BIGHARD A. WHIT'IINGHAM, OF NEWARK, DELAWARE.

' on, snnn ron GEAR nonsrncs.

Application filed March 2, 1923, SerialNo'. 622,340. Renewed February 15, 1924.

i This invention relates to an oil seal for preventing the escape of oil from casings or housings which enclose gears, or other run- I ning parts, portions of which project ing the g ars hub, is employed between the hub and the casing but this has been found to .be ineflective as a means for retaining the oil, although eifective as a dust-excluding means.-

In order to form a more eifective oil seal for truck gear housings, I provide, between the housing and a part, which rotates with the hub, a packing which is so formed that it continuously wipes the oil away from the opening in the housingas the whe el rotates in either direction, and thus, little if any oil can pass to the opening in the housing or the packing which is usually arranged at the margin of such opening. This wiping joint is preferably part which rotates with the hub a packing ring which is-eccentric to the axis of the hub and which bears upon a part of the housing surrounding the opening therein, although the eccentric ring may be secured to the housing and bear upon a plane surface which rotates with theahub; or the packing ring may be concentric with the hub and have a more or less sinous or angular outline which will provide surfaces on the packing for brushing the oil outwardly from theopening .in both directions of movement of the hub and truck wheel. I

In the accompanying drawing,

Fig. 1 is a central vertical section through formed by providing upon a *4, and a sheet metal one end of a truck axle, a traction wheel having an internal gear drive and the housmg enclosing the gearing, showing'the pre- I ferred form of wiping joint between the gear and housing;

Fig. 2 is a central sect-ion throughparts of the gear hub and housing showing the ec-- centric wiping joint of Fig. 1 on a larger scale; i

Fig oil sllnger thereon, looking in l;

Fig. 4 is a vertical section through a-hub 3 is afface view of the hub and the and part of a housing, showing the eccentric packlng ring mounted on the housing;

Flg. 5 is a face view of a hub showing a modified arrangement of the packing; and 05 Fig. 6 is a central vertical sectionthrough the hub shown in Fig. 5 and a part housing.

Referring to Figs. 1, 2, and 3 of the drawing, a represents the load supporting member of the rear axle of a motor vehicle having an of the upward extension a, in which is secured a wheel spindle 1. Upon this spindle is mounted a gear hub 2, having a web 3 which carriesan internal gear 4. This gare is 7 driven by a pinion 5 upon an axle 6, which extends through the dead axle or load supporting'member and is operated from the differential gearing in the usual manner. -gpon the end of the load supporting memr is secured a gear housing or oil casing consisting of a web 7, which constitutes the back plate of the housing, having. an annular flange 7 a which rojects over the gear disklike front plate 8 which is secured to the flange 7 and extends in front of the web of the gear. This plate has a' central opening through which the gear hub extends, this opening being only slightly larger than the hub so that the plate extends close to the periphery of the hub. The plate 8 is secured to a taper rib 7 on the flange 7 by a clamping ring 9 which is V-sha ed in cross section and the joint formed y these parts is oil-tight. The housing or casing thus formed is from left to right 00 adapted to contain oil of sufficient depth to permit the gear to dip into it, and the gear carries the oil around and distributes it to the several bearings shown. The traction wheel 10 has a hub 10*,which is mounted upon the part of the gear hub which projects through the oil casing. The wheel hub is integralv with the wheel and is secured to the gear hub by bolts 11, which extend into threaded openings 12 in the gear hub, these latter openings being shown in Fig. 3.

In the web of the gear, adjacent the hub and concentric with it, is an annular recess 13, Fig. 3, in which is fitted a packing ring 14, shown in the other figures of the draw ing, which ring bears against the inner face of the plate 8, adjacent the margin of its central opening, and'this packinglring forms with the plate a running joint, 1'. eprincipal function of which is to prevent dust and dirt from passing into the housing. i Above this joint, is shown in section, a gutter 15 which is secured to the stationary plate 8,' and this I utter extends around the upper part of the hub, as shown in Fig. 3, and catches the oil which flows toward the hub on the upper art of the front late 8 and directs it back IIItO'lShB bottom 0 the oil casin The web of the gear, adjacent the hub, is thickened to provide an annular fin 16 which serves as an oil slinger, and this fin is spacedfrom the face of the web by an annular groove or channel 17 formed in the thickened portion of the web. The fin'which constitutes the oil slinger is eccentric to 'the axis of the hub,

as shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, and within the q recess 18, adjacent the fin and concentric with it but eccentric to the axis of the hub is arranged a packing ring 19, preferably of 'leather, whichbears against the adjacent face of the front plate 8 of the housing. Be-

' tween the concentric channel 13 and the essa e of reducin centric channel .18 acrescent-shaped recess 20 is shown in the drawing, but this merely re resents a part of the web cut out for the wei ht.

In the o oration o the invention, as illustrated in igs. 1 to 3 of the drawing, as the wheel and gear rotate, the oil fromothe bottom of'the casing is carried around by the gear and distributed by gravity to the various bearings and the gear teeth also are lubricated. Any oil flowing down on the inner surface of the front or outer wall'8 of the housing is caught bythe gutter 15 and prevented from passing to the joint between the ear and the housing. Oil flowing down on t e outer face of the gear'passes into the channel 17 and the greater part of this oil isthrown off by the oil. slinger against the underside of the gutter 15 or directly into the. lower part of the casing.v These features for catchin and throwing I off the oil-are not a part 0 the present invention, although used in conjunction with 6 it. Some of the. oil will pass the oil slinger and also. drain from the underside 'of the gutter on to the inner face of the front wall of the housing, and some of this oil would eventually pass through the running joint r70. formed by the concentric packing ring 14 if it were not for the wiping joint formed by the eccentric packing ring 19. As the gear revolves, this eccentric packing ring continuously wipes the oil outwardly from the 7 running joint and as the outer edge of the ring isclose to the sloping surface of the oil slinger, any oil swept outwardly by .the 7 ring above the axis of the. spindle will ass equal to twice the d tance between the centers of the ring and spiridle. It will be noted that the eccentric packing ring will -wipe the oil radially outward on the front plate in either direction of rotation of the gear and wheel. This wiping joint is found to be extremely effective in. preventing en from reaching the joint between the housing and the hub.

In the foregoing figures, the eccentric packing ring ismounted upon a part'which rotates with the hub and that is the preferred arrangement; but the eccentric packing ring ma be mounted upon the front plate of the ousing and bear against a'fiat surface rotating with the hub, as shown in Fig. 4 In this latter figure, the. front plate 8 of the oil casing is formed with a groove 18 which is eccentric to the axisof the hub, and in this groove is arranged a packing ring 19 which bears against a plane surface 21*;upon a thickened portion 21 of the web of the gear- This thickened portion is formed with an oil slinger 16 which is concentric with the axis of the hub.

In the operation of the structure shown 1n Fig. 4, as the ear and wheel revolve, the surface 21 will e wiped by the eccentric packing ring and any oil tending to flow toward the hub between the face 21 and the 1 front plate will be wiped outwardly toward the oil slinger and W111 be thrown off. In .120 Fig. 4, the center of the wiping ring is above the axis, of. the hub and the ring approaches close to the oil slinger at the upper edge of the latter. This is the most desirablearrangement because the ring is in position to prevent the downward flowing oil frompassing between the surface 21 and the plate ,8-at the point where the oil has the greatest tendency to flow directly to the joint between I the casing and the hub. The eccentric ring may, however, be located so that its axis will be below or at either side of the axis of the hub, and in any eccentric position it will operate to cause the oil to be swept or wipedoutwardly on the face of the surface 21 as the hub revolves.

With this arrangement, the wiping ring is close to the oil slinger at one polnt in the circumference of the latter and remote. from the oil slinger at its diametrically opposite point, while in Figs. 1 to 3, inclusive, the wiping ring is close to the oil slinger at all points, and for this reason the arrangement shown in the latter figures is preferred 1 In Figs. 5 and 6, I have shown a modification in which the wiping ring 22, instead of being eccentric to the axis of the hub is arrangedin the form of a continuous band having a series of alternate inward and outward bends, the latter being at the periphery of the oil slinger which is concentric with the axis of the hub. This band, instead of extending along short straight lines and having angular bends might be arranged in a more or less sinuous form, but it is more convenient and economical to form the slots in which the band is held on straight lines,

and hence the band, in the drawing, takes the form shown. 'This band may be arranged on the housing, but it is shown upon the thickened portion 23 of the web of the gear and bears against the outer plate 8 of the oil casing. This thickened portion has a fin l6", concentric with the axis of the hub' by a plurality of similar slots 25, forming a square, the angles of which are at the periphery of the oil slinger. The band as shown is arranged within those parts of the channels which constitute the corner por-- tions of'the squares and the band extends to the periphery of the oil slinger at these corners. A

In the operation of the wiper shown in l igs. .5 and 6, as the gear rotates in the clockwise direction, in Fig. 5, any oil flowing on the plate 8 toward the hub willbe caught by the stretches 22 of the band and 'as these stretches are inclined outwardly and also backwardly with respect to the direction of rotation of the gear, the'oil will flow outwardly along these stretches to the oil slinger and will be thrown ofi'. When the wheelrotates 1n the opposite direction, the

oil on the plate 8 will be caught by the stretches 22 of the band, which slope rearwardly with respect to the direction of rotation and also outwardly to the oil slin'ger,

and the oil will be carried out tothe oil slinger and thrown ofi.

lV-hat I claim is:

1. The combination with an oil casing having an opening in one side, of a rotatably mounted member projecting through said opening, said casing and memberhaving opposed parts arranged side by side adjacent the opening, and a packing ring on one of said parts bearing against the other part, said ring having its outer margin non-concentric with the axis of said member and adapted to wipe oil'away-from the margin of the ring and from the margin of said opening in both directions of movement of said member.

2. The combination with an oil casing having an opening in one side, of a rotatably mounted member projecting through said opening, said casing and member having opposed parts adjacent the opening, and said member having an annular fin constituting an oil slinger, anda packing ring on one of .said parts bearing against the other part within the margin of said fin, said ring havmg its outer margin non-concentric with the axis of said member and adaptedto wlpe 011 away from the margin of saidopening and toward the margin of said fin while said member is rotating.

3.-The combinatlon with an oil casing having an opening in one side, of a rotatably mounted member projecting through said opening, said casing and member having opposed parts arranged side by side adjacent the opening, and a packing ring on said member bearing against the opposed part of the casing, said ring having it outer margin non-concentric with the axis of said member and arranged to wipe oil away from the margin of said opening in both directions of rotation.

A. The combinatiomwith' an oil casing having an opening in one side, of a rotatably mounted member projecting through said opening, said casing and member having opposed parts adjacent the opening and said member having an annular fin constituting an oil slinger, and a packing ring on said member within the margin of said fin and -bearing against the'opposed part of the easing, said ring having its outer margin nonconcentric with the axis of said member and adapted to wipe oil away i. from the margin of said opening and toward thev margin of said fin while said member is rotating.

5. The combination with an 'oil casing having an opening in one side, of a rotatably mounted member projecting through said opening, said casing and member having opposed parts adjacent the opening and sai member having an annular fin eccentric to its axis and constituting an oil slinger, and a packing ring on said member, eccentric to its axis and adjacent'the margin of the fin, ing ring on one of said parts having its said ring bearing against the opposed part outer margin non-eccentric with the axis of of the casing. said hub and adapted to wipe oil away from 6. The combination with a gear mounted said margin of the ring and from the margin for rotation about a horizontal axis and f aid in i both dir cti ns f r ta, 1 having a hub, and a casing enclosing the tion of the gear. gear and having an opening in one side In testimony whereof I hereunto afiix my through which said hub projects, said gear signature. I r a and casing having opposingparts arranged I 10 side by side in Vertical planes, and a pack- RICHARD A. WHITTINGHAJW 

